Clonie Gowen, A Woman, Wins World Poker Open In Tunica (not as impressive as it sounds)

So how do you make it easy for a woman to win a World Poker Tour event when it’s never been done before (in an open event)?

You lower "the hurdle", so to speak, by cutting the buy-in in half, getting the number of players down to about a 100 or so, and keeping as many big name pros away as possible.

And oh yeh, you drop the event from the tour so it’s not an actual World Poker Tour event anymore.

That’s what happened in Tunica yesterday when Clonie Gowen, a woman, beat out 106 players and a final table that read like a who’s who of who knows these guys but friends and family to win the World Poker Open, the Southern staple of the WPT for the past six seasons but dropped this past year because, we’re guessing, Tunica isn’t so much a vibrant city as it is an island of crappy casinos in a sea of cotton fields.

For the win, Gowen takes home $183,224 and a seat in the WPT event in Biloxi this January.

Finishing in second, and only worth noting because he’s a friend of FOWCP Brian Heptinstall, was BJ McBrayer, who grabs $96,701 but has to play his next tournament with his pants down for losing to a woman.

3 Responses

Congratulations Clonie!! Too bad this writer feels the need to play down your first place finish. He just couldn’t seem to mention the stellar year you are having. Geez, you would think he would mention your 1st place finish this summer at the Bellagio $5K for $438K, and your 3rd Poker After Dark title for $120K, putting your 2008 tournament winnings at over $750K.